Pessimistic Outlook for Gulou

Following the forced cancellation of the March 27 public meeting to discuss the fate of Gulou, a more low-key Foreign Correspondent’s Club of China (FCCC) meeting was successfully held last night (March 29) at the Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center (CHP) office in Fangjia Hutong. The talk was an hour and a half Q & A between CHP founder and cultural heritage law expert, He Shuzhong, and a group of 20 concerned homeowners, tenants and journalists.

While Professor He did not provide too many details about the number of households that would be forced to relocate and which developers and officials were spearheading Gulou’s transformation into a “Beijing Cultural City,” he did reveal that RMB 500 million had already been allocated to the project and 12.5 hectares would be “converted.”

Professor He named one company – Boston International Design Group – as one of the probable developers for the project. He alleged that one of the owners of the company is Chinese, and a look at their website suggests that the only thing truly international or Boston-related about the firm is their name. He claimed plans for the Gulou project had already been removed from the site, and a search today found no references to the project.

He also referred to pressures on local district mayors to compete with each other for highest GDP, and with the “success” of Qianmen’s multi-national makeover in the eyes of local bureaucrats, Gulou is an easy mark. While laws for cultural heritage sites exist, He explained, they are rarely followed or enforced.

The meeting ended with a sense that changes to the plans for Gulou were not likely due to massive systemic problems and centuries of neglect of the hutong neighborhoods.

The Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Centre is planning a major English-language event on preservation in China in late May – stay tuned for details.